Right after a group of FAMU football players completed a conditioning drill of running steps inside Bragg Stadium, they gathered in a circle.

Kicker Chase Varnadore pushed his way close to the center.

The former Florida High standout praised the effort of his teammates under the blazing sun, igniting what resembled the kind of celebration that follows a win.

"I always tell them it's not supposed to be easy," Varnadore said. "If it were easy, everybody would do it."

"During the season when we are down by seven points or 14 points in the third quarter, that's not easy. It's going to be hard to fight your way back into the game, so I feel like this is just preparing us for the season."

While that is the primary intent of the offseason workouts, it certainly is unusual to see a kicker taking charge and establishing himself as a leader.

Especially Varnadore, who started his FAMU career as a shy walk-on. The role he's playing is just part of the responsibilities that comes with being a senior as well, he said.

"If somebody sees you working hard, then they hopefully follow in your footsteps," Varnadore said. "I'm working my butt off and I'm hoping it rubs off on the other guys so we can get better as a team."

Varnadore is no longer languishing in the perception that kickers don't have much more than what could be perceived as a cameo role on special teams. He's won the respect of his teammates who show their appreciation by following his lead.

"I'm definitely feel like I'm just as important as anybody else," Varnadore said.

"I don't feel like anybody is more important than the other person because we are all a team."

Varnadore said he's stepped out front at this stage of preparation for the upcoming season because he wants to help his teammates forget last season. He takes every opportunity he could to motivate because FAMU is better than the 3-9 season that it had last year, he said.

"It's definitely good to say something throughout the week to stick with and motivate them to help them get a clear image of what we are trying to achieve," he said.

Varnadore is one of the first to show up for workouts and usually one of the last to leave, said strength and conditioning coach Russell Barbarino. Every day he sees the impression that Varnadore is making an impression on his teammates.

"When a linebacker or a wide receiver sees this guy outworking him, it tells him that he needs to step his game up," Barbarino said. "He embraces the grind. He embraces the process and that's why we love him."

Varnadore said he is driven by a desire to get better and, at the same time, forget about his personal struggles last season when he hit four of seven field goal attempts. It was far from what he expected after nailing 15 of 18 as a sophomore.

That was his first season as starting kicker and he established himself when he connected on field goal attempts of 41 and 46 yards against Oklahoma.

He was selected to the All-MEAC team to cap the year. That's how he said he'd like to end his senior season.

"I'm trying to get as much time in on the field as I can; not take any days off," Varnadore said.

"Even though we only lift (weights) four times a week, I'm trying to kick almost every day. I'm kicking Saturdays, Sundays and every day that I can."